Below is a list of questions I keep getting asked from time to time.
1. How long have you and Lori been together?
Lori and I have officially been together since May 22, 1996.
2. When did you and Lori get married?
Lori and I got married on July 5th, 2003. We held the ceremony and the reception at the Historic Heights Fire Station and City Hall. Here are some pictures.
3. Why did you and Lori wait over seven years before you finally got married?
We weren't in any big hurry to get married. We both wanted to finish school first; and between finishing up undergraduate degrees and persuing graduate degrees there never seemed to be a good time to do so. Only after we finished with school and returned to Houston did we finally decide to set a date. We also decided to take our time just to annoy the Hell out of everyone who constantly asked us and pestered us about it, such as our parents.
4. Do you have any children?
As of August 21, 2004, yes.
5. Where are you, Lori and Kirby living right now?
We recently purchased a house in University Oaks, right behind the University of Houston campus. My parents live two blocks away in the same house we grew up in. Even though the house is old and needs a lot of work, we really like the location. We never would have considered living in the suburbs.
Before we moved into this house, we lived at an apartment complex on Milam Street in Midtown Houston. We never thought we'd enjoy living in an apartment again, but we liked it. Everything we needed was in walking distance, including a full-service grocery store, several restaurants and bars, and even Spec's huge liquor store and deli are within walking distance. The only thing we didn't like about Midtown were the legions of homeless persons who would constantly harrass us.
6. I remember when you used to be as skinny as a toothpick. How the Hell did you get so damned fat?
Lori's cooking and my discovery of beer are probably both to blame.
7. Why don't you try to lose some weight, you fat tub of lard?
I've decided that I look better now than when I was a skinny-assed freak of nature.
8. Do you have any friends or a social life?
Hell no! Okay, maybe a few. But not many. I really don't have very many friends in the Houston area, first of all because I only recently moved back after being away for five years and also because all my friends moved away. My best friend, for example, lives in Albany, New York. I used to hang out with my brother David and my brother-in-law Danny when they lived her, but now David lives in Denver and Danny hangs out in Philadelphia. These days, my social life is confined to the bar rats at the Dog House Tavern in Midtown. Needless to say, most of the time I sit at home in front of a computer.
9. What is the most important thing in your life right now?
10. Why?
Because it kicks ass. American football is the greatest sport ever invented by mankind. It combines strength, skill and strategy. The collegiate version of this sport is truly spectacular, with all the teams (120 in Division I-A alone) and the rabid fans and the players that actually give a crap about their team because they aren't being paid the big bucks yet and the bands and the tailgating and the seventeen zillion bowl games and controversy of not having a playoff... The glitzy and greedy NFL just can't match the greatness of the college game, and it is too expensive for the average person to see anyway.
11. Does Lori think you're a freak because you enjoy college football so much?
Yes. But then again Lori thinks I'm a freak because of a lot of things.
12. If Lori ever told you that you had to stop watching college football, what would you do?
I would divorce her, of course. But that will never happen, because Lori tolerates my love for college football. She goes to the games with me, she especially enjoys the tailgating, and she actually has fun at the games themselves every now and then.
13. What are your most-favorite and least-favorite college football teams?
My favorite college football team is, of course, the University of Houston Cougars. I also consider myself a supporter of the University of North Texas Mean Green, the Rice Owls and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns. As you can tell, I like to root for the underdog.
My least favorite team is the Notre Dame Fightin' Irish. I hate them. I also dislike the University of Miami Hurricanes and the Texas A&M Aggies.
14. You attended the University of Texas at Austin. Are you a Longhorn fan?
Not really. I've attended several UT games, and I've had a great time at games like Texas/OU in Dallas, but I am a Houston fan first and I have discovered that it is really impossible to be a fan of both schools, considering the malice between the two schools. I don't intensely dislike the 'Horns, and I always cheer for them when they're playing schools like Nebraska or Texas A&M, but the arrogant actions of their athletics administration as well as some of their alumni have really turned me off.
15. Why do you support a struggling mid-major program like the University of Houston Cougars? They haven't been a force on the national scene since at least the Run-and-Shoot era and they have serious attendance problems.
Because I am a masochist? No, really: I was born a Cougar. My dad is a UH professor, my mom got her masters' degree from UH, we lived three blocks away from the UH campus and UH was the only school I bothered to apply to out of high school because I didn't want to go anywhere else. I've grown up supporting UH athletics, through thick and thin.
16. What is your favorite beer?
Guinness. On draught. Yummy. I also like Fosters on draught.
17. Where do you go to drink your favorite beer?
Usually, to the Doghouse Tavern in Midtown. I used to live within walking distance of the place, and I still consider it my "neighborhood" bar. Greg and Jenn take good care of me, so I can't complain. I also hang out at Leon's Lounge, which is also in Midtown. Jason Green is one of the best bartenders in town, and I've known him since he was tending the bar at Slainte in downtown several years ago.
18. What do you think about mass-produced American beers like Budweiser or Coors or Miller Light?
I think they suck. Beer was not meant to be made from rice!
19. What foreign countries have you traveled to, and when?
Not counting stopovers at airports, I've been to:
Austria: 2002
Belize: 2006**
Canada: 1974*, 1980, 1982
Czech Republic: 2002
Ecuador: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 2001
Germany: 2002
Great Britain: 1985
Ireland: 1985
Japan: 2005
Mexico: 1979, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1989**, 1995**, 1997, 1998**, 1999,
2000, 2003, 2004, 2005**, 2006**, 2007
Netherlands: 2002, 2006
United Arab Emirates: 2006
* I obviously don't remember this trip, but I've
seen my grandfather's
super 8 footage of me as a toddler in Montreal, so I guess it counts
** border crossing or cruise port-of-call
I sure like to go to Mexico a lot!
I like to travel, so hopefully this list will continue to grow.
20. What's the deal with Ecuador? Why do you like that little country so much?
I guess it's because I've had so many fun and fascinating experiences there ever since I first spent the summer there in 1988. See my Ecuador page.
21. Have you always lived in Houston?
I've lived in Houston for all but about five years of my life. Lori and I lived in Austin for a coupleo f years while we were going to school there, and we lived in Lewisville for one year and Denton for two years while I worked for the City of Denton and Lori went to graduate school at the University of North Texas.
22. Why did you move back to Houston from Denton?
Because Denton just wasn't "home." It was a very nice town, and I enjoyed living there, but Lori and I both decided that Houston, the city where we grew up and the city where our families live, is simply where we wanted to be. We still visit friends in Denton from time to time, however.
23. Is there anything you miss about Denton?
I miss Dan's Meat and Produce. I miss Wayne and Teresa at Unique Hair Stylists. I miss the Square. I miss a couple of people I used to work with. I miss the seven-minute commute to and from work. I miss the two or three days of snow we'd get every year. I miss Brave Combo concerts.
24. What political party do you affiliate yourself with?
Anybody who considers themselves a "Democrat" or a "Republican" is weak-willed and incapable of thinking for themselves. Politically, I consider myself moderate, although I probably lean a bit to the left on certain issues. But I refuse to identify myself with either major political party. Partisan politics suck, the USA's two-party system sucks, and political discourse in this country generally disgusts me.
25. What religion are you?
I was baptized in the Catholic church, but I am not a particularly religious person. I believe that there is a God, but I'm not sold on the existence of an afterlife nor the "proper" way to get there.